Osteoporosis

             According to George J. Kessler, osteoporosis is the loss of minerals that causes the bones to become fragile. Osteoporosis would not be such a big medical problem, if not for the risk of bone fractures. Until recently, osteoporosis was only detected after a person had a bone fracture. But now, due to modern technology osteoporosis can be found much earlier. Osteoporosis takes years to develop, since it is depends on a person's bone mass in early adulthood.
             The human body is constantly replacing bone tissue, this is important in understanding osteoporosis. Bone remodeling is an ongoing cycle within our bones. This begins with the cells of the bones called osteoclasts, which break down the bone or resorption. Another type of cell within the bone called osteoblasts replace the area of the broken down bone with new bone (Lane 10). Bone mass is maintained by the balancing of bone remodeling.
             The hormone estrogen maintains the normal rate of bone remodeling. During menopause in women estrogen levels fall. This causes bone resorption the become greater than bone formation. The result is great bone loss or osteoporosis. Not only is bone loss due to menopause, it is also caused by aging. The older we get, calcium absorption becomes harder. Our bodies react by producing more parathyroid hormone, which takes calcium form our bones by resorption. This results in bone resorption to increase, while less bone is being replaced.
             Many factors determine bone mass and risk of getting osteoporosis. Among them are age, sex, and race. African-Americans tend to have the highest bone mass. White people have the lowest, while Asian-Americans fall in the middle. Researchers do not know the reasons behind these facts. Although African-Americans do have larger mature bones. There has also been differences African-American and white children's bones. Aging African-American women do not tend to lose bone has fast than a...

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Osteoporosis. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 01:50, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/83450.html